ONE new doctor every week is needed to combat Peel’s spiralling population growth, a top medical chief has warned.
Australian Medical Association Western Australia executive Richard Choong said Peel, along with the remainder of WA, had experienced a population boom that was threatening to topple the State’s health services.
“The numbers are fantastic for growth and disastrous for health,” he said.
Dr Choong said the state was suffering from a shortage of more than 400 GPs and regional areas such as Peel would find it hard to cope.
“The population increases by nearly 10 people an hour,” he said.
“Every week we need to grow by one GP to match that.
“We’re far short.
“We have a surge of young doctors coming through, but we need to do more to make GP positions more attractive to them.”
Dr Choong said the issue was difficult to resolve in the short term, with the Government already relying “too heavily” on foreign doctors to patch up deficiencies in the health system.
He warned that other areas of medical expertise were starting to lag, including obstetrics.
“Areas such as obstetrics are decreasing as a skill, and that impacts regional areas like Mandurah particularly.”
Health Minister Kim Hames has previously acknowledged the demand on health services and said staffing was an area the Government was keen to address.
